Actions

Pope defrocks Chilean priest amid sex abuse scandal

Image copyright 2018 Getty Images. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Jeff J Mitchell

<p>Pope Francis arrives to meet dignitaries at Dublin Castle on August 25, 2018 in Dublin, Ireland. Pope Francis is the 266th Catholic Pope and current sovereign of the Vatican. </p>

Pope Francis has expelled the Reverend Cristian Precht Bañados of Chile, according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Santiago.

This is the first formal resignation the Pope has decreed since every bishop in Chile offered to step down in May over the country's sex abuse scandal. The move is thought to be unprecedented in the modern history of the Catholic Church.

Precht had been suspended in 2012 from practicing within the ministry for five years after the Archbishop of Santiago ordered a criminal investigation into allegations of sexual abuse against him.

The Archbishop issued a statement at the time saying that "during the process were established verifiable reports of abusive behavior with adults and minors."

Precht has not been charged with any crimes by Chilean authorities, but was not allowed to leave the country's capital, Santiago, pending completion of the church investigation.

In a February 2013 statement, Precht
denied "ever forcing anyone's will, be it an adult or a minor, woman or man."

"I absolutely deny participating, in any way, in the acts which I'm slanderously being accused of," the newspaper quoted him as saying. "I will defend my personal and clerical honor in every way I can and any time it's violated."

Precht was extremely popular in Chile and known for being a fierce defender of human rights during the Chilean dictatorship.

His defrocking comes as the Catholic Church continues to face criticism over its response to myriad allegations of sexual abuse against Catholic clergy over the years.

Mass resignation

All of Chile's 34 active and retired bishops offered their resignations
to Pope Francis in May after an emergency summit at the Vatican. The Pope called the bishops to Rome after receiving a 2,300-page report detailing sexual abuses by priests in Chile.

The report alleged that for decades church officials in Chile knew about and covered up cases of sexual abuse, even destroying records.

Pope Francis had previously defended a Chilean bishop accused of concealing the abuse, saying he had been "slandered."